Nay Thwin
Mizzima News
January 29, 2008
In remembrance of the violent September protests, over 300 Burmese activists in Singapore, will wear red clothes on Sunday and attend the screening of 'Rambo 4', which has been shot in the backdrop of the crisis in Burma.
The activists said they would visit Singapore's Bugis cinema, where Hollywood superstar Sylvester Stallone's 'Rambo 4' is being screened, in red clothes to highlight the violent protests of September.
"As remembrance of the Saffron revolution, we have urged the people to come for the movie with red dresses on," Aung Sayapyih, a student from Singapore University, one of the organizers of the event, told Mizzima.
The organizers said they were negotiating with the Singaporean authorities to allow a special programme on Sunday, where they planned to play the national anthem and also have a slide show on the situation in Burma, before the start of the movie.
Kyi Min from the exiled Burmese patriotic group said, "Before the movie begins, we will play the Burmese national anthem and salute the Burmese flag and have a slide show presentation of the 1974 U Thant uprising and the Saffron revolution."
"If we can do it in Singapore, we believe Burmese people in other parts of the world also can start such a campaign and that will be a great unity. We want to show that patriotic Burmese people across the globe are opposing the military junta in every possible way," he added.
Rambo 4, the last of Stallone's heroic Rambo series, was shot in the Thai-Burmese border in eastern Burma. The movie is based on the prevailing situation, where hundreds of ethnic Karens have to flee their homes fearing attacks by the Burmese Army.
Ever since the film's shooting in 2007, many Burmese dissidents and diaspora have cheered for it saying it would bring a higher level of international exposure to the ongoing imbroglio in Burma.
Directed by Stallone, the movie is based on how Rambo, a Vietnam War veteran living in Thailand, goes to rescue a group of Christian missionaries, who were abducted by Burmese soldiers, deep inside Burma when they had gone to provide aid to Karen villagers. While the movie highlights Rambo's super-natural ability to win wars, it also depicts the atrocities and untold misery of Karen villagers.
The film was released worldwide and started screening in Singapore on January 24 night. It is believed the tickets for the Sunday show, where Burmese activists are planning a special programme, were sold out despite the cost of 9.5 S$.
Singapore is one of the many Southeast Asian nations that hosts Burmese refugees and migrants, estimated at a total of 50,000 Burmese students and workers.
http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/News/2008/Jan/76-Jan-2008.html
